1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ozone generator for flowing a source gas between electrodes and generating a discharge between the electrodes, thereby producing ozone.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ozone generator is an apparatus capable of flowing an oxygen-containing gas such as air in a thermal non-equilibrium plasma to produce ozone. The thermal non-equilibrium plasma is generated utilizing a discharge provided by a discharge generating device. For example, the discharge generating device may be of a silent discharge type. For example, in this device, a high voltage of several to several tens kV is applied by a high-voltage alternating-current power source to a discharge gap between a high-voltage electrode and a ground electrode, to generate a discharge of an aggregate of micro-discharge columns. The oxygen-containing gas is decomposed by the discharge to produce ozone.
Conventional structures of such an ozone generator are disclosed, e.g., in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 10-324504 and 2013-060327.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-324504 describes in paragraph [0002] that a silent discharge-type ozone generator has electrodes facing each other and one or two dielectric bodies interposed therebetween, a high alternating-current voltage is applied to the electrodes while flowing an oxygen-containing source gas (such as a high-concentration oxygen (PSA oxygen) gas or a dehumidified air) in a gap between the electrode and the dielectric body or in a gap between the dielectric bodies, and oxygen is dissociated by a silent discharge to produce ozone. The gap has a length of about 1 mm, and the dielectric body is made of a glass or ceramic material having a high dielectric strength.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2013-060327 describes in paragraph [0008] that an ozone generator contains a discharge electrode, an induction electrode facing the discharge electrode, a dielectric body layer formed between the discharge electrode and the induction electrode, and a water-repellent layer formed on the discharge electrode.